Alexander

Alexander has been in the Top 25 since 1991, and is still at a high Number 8. The noble Alexander has led to the popularity of so many spin-offs, such as Alex, Zander, Xan and Zan--not to mention all the female versions-- that it almost feels as if the name world's been Alextrified out. But namers are still attracted to its imposing historic pedigree.

According to Greek legend,the first Alexander was Paris, who was given the nickname Alexander by the shepherds whose flocks he defended against robbers, followed by Alexander the Great, aka Alexander III, who conquered much of Asia. A royal name in Scotland, it is still highly popular there. In Gaelic, the name became Alasdair,in Spain Alejandro and in Italy Alessandro.

Among the many notable Alexanders in history, stand-outs are Hamilton, Graham Bell, Fleming, Pope and Haig.

Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber's Alexander is known as Sasha.